Written by Tammie White, Principal Broker/Owner of Franklin Homes Realty LLC
For the last two years, Franklin has been in a strong seller's market. Sellers are beginning to think that having an agent isn't really a neccessity to the transaction. There are approximately 200 items we perform for our sellers from the beginning of the transaction until we finally close. Let's focus on one facet of selling your Franklin home that will be the most time-consuming: marketing.
Did you know there are five components of marketing?
You thought all an agent had to do was put your house in the multiple listing service and the house would sell itself. Sadly, many agents do just that. Unfortunately, that's not the best way to get the most exposure for your home. As a matter of fact, some properties will require much more marketing than others; depending upon the location, price and features.
Using the five components of marketing to sell your home:
- Agent-to-Agent: While the vast majority of buyers will begin their home search on the internet, they will eventually make contact with a real estate agent. Some demographics won't use the internet at all and will rely heavily upon their agent to show them the right properties. In our current market, we contact agents as soon as we get that listing agreement signed. We know they may have a willing and able buyer. We use several methods to contact them including phone, email and email blasts. Coming soon email blasts usually get our phone ringing.
- In-House: The most commonly used in-house marketing is the Open House but it also includes the home book and brochures. We have taken the Open House to a new level. Neighbors can be an advocate when selling your home. They already love the neighborhood and usually know someone who may be looking to move there. We invite the neighbors in for a private open house. This gives them an opportunity to look around without feeling awkward. It also gives us an opportunity to get feedback from your neighbors. It's a win-win for everyone. We also create a Home Book for buyers. This will include features about the house, neighborhood amenities, school information and community. It will also contain the TN Property Condition Disclosure and utility information from the last year that you will provide to us.
- Off-line: This includes newspaper ads, direct mail and home books usually found in the grocery store. This approach may work for some demographics better than others and is directed to local buyers. Less than 2% of buyers come from off-line marketing. As a matter of fact, this approach is usually used to garner more listing inventory for agents than actually sell your home. Even so, we want to make sure all our bases are covered and will send JUST LISTED postcards.
- On-line: With 92% of buyers beginning their search on-line, the internet is the FIRST SHOWING. Make sure you hire an agent who is well-versed in this type of marketing. This goes way beyond your agent syndicating your listing to the major portal websites such as Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. It gets your home in front of buyers as quickly as possible. Creative use of blogging and social media sites like Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter are playing a major role in real estate marketing. If your agent can't be found in the Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), then they will have a tough time selling your home outside of your local market. This type of marketing draws national, even international, attention and is an area Franklin Homes Realty LLC excels.
- Target: Do you have a gourmet kitchen? Or maybe an English Garden? Maybe you have a Geo-thermal heating sytem. This type of marketing focuses on getting your home in front of buyers who are looking for these features. For example, if you have a gourmet kitchen, we may ask a local cooking school to host a class at your home. Or if you have a beautiful English Garden, we'll contact the local Horticulturist Society and offer your home for an upcoming event. Obviously, one of the easiest ways to do target marketing is through blogging about the features of your home that will attract interested parties. Facebook Ads give us the ability to run ads on pages where these buyers frequent. This type of marketing is time-consuming and requires some real creativity on the part of your agent.
Selling your Franklin TN home using the five components of marketing will get your home sold in the shortest amount of time for the largest amount of money. We would be happy to meet with you to discuss our approach to marketing your Franklin home. Call Tammie White at (615) 495-0752.
About Tammie White, Franklin TN REALTOR®
Tammie White is a REALTOR® and Principal Broker/Owner of Franklin Homes Realty LLC in Franklin TN. Tammie works with relocation buyers looking to purchase a home in Franklin and the surrounding Williamson County area. She understands the way buyers search for homes making her an invaluable asset to Franklin home sellers. Tammie's website, www.FranklinHomesRealty.com, has become the premiere search tool for buyers relocating to Franklin TN. She has been writing a real estate blog since 2009 and quoted in various publications including the LA Times, Skype.com, The Tennessean and Williamson Source.